Collections and inherent vice

Here at Syracuse one of our collecting strengths is in dime novels
and related publications with *very* extensive holdings

    <URL:http://library.syr.edu/find/scrc/collections/subjects/pulp-literature-sf.php>

including effectively the entire output of Street and Smith
publishers

    <URL:http://library.syr.edu/digital/guides/s/street_smith.htm>

These materials often feature very vivid cover art, are printed on
pulp/newsprint now brittle newsprint, are bound in ways that are
often difficult to read, and side-stapled or oversewn in library
bindings.

In 1996-98 Syracuse microfilmed a significant part of its Street and
Smith dime novels (in addition to the records of the publisher) and
then later digitized the separately preserved covers

    <URL:http://library.syr.edu/find/scrc/collections/subjects/pulp-literature-sf.php>

We are also engaged in a large-scale (re)housing project for these
materials that we continue to actively collect.

Microfilming has long been considered a preservation tool for
brittle materials but has often been destructive with spine folds
cut. Modern digitization equipment can in some cases reduce that
risk. Deacidification can slow the rate of deterioration but does
not make the paper less brittle and in some cases can significantly
darken the paper. Single flat sheets can be encapsulated with a
backing/support allowing them to be viewed, and extensive
conservation treatment are often not sustainable (or effective), but
access still remains problematic. I can go on...

For any number of reasons the "miracles" of parylene

    <URL:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parylene>

with diethylzinc

    <URL:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diethylzinc>

and paper-splitting

    <URL:http://www.loc.gov/preservation/scientists/projects/paper_split.html>,
    <URL:http://www.folger.edu/template.cfm?cid=888>,
    <URL:http://www.jstor.org/stable/3179976>
    <URL:http://www.jstor.org/stable/3179976>

never proved commercially viable despite best intentions.

My question to this group, especially those with large holdings of
these kinds of materials is *what* are you doing to preserve and
make accessible these materials? What kinds of workflows do you have
in place? What kinds of treatments do you apply? Why continue to
collect? The last question is facetious, but...

Peter D. Verheyen
Head of Preservation and Conservation
Syracuse University Library
Syracuse, NY 13244
315-443-9756


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 26:7
                   Distributed: Monday, July 9, 2012
                        Message Id: cdl-26-7-015
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